Survivors of Oxford, Sandy Hook shootings join MSU students in call for gun reform

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Instead of being in the classroom on February 27, 2023, dozens of students, lawmakers, and local advocates made their way to Boji Tower for the Michigan State March and Rally for Gun Control. The event was held to demand action in response to the mass shooting at Michigan State University that left three students dead and five injured.

Deadly mass shootings can happen anywhere. On Feb. 13, it happened at MSU. After tragedy struck on the campus they call home, students have been asking lawmakers to pass gun control laws.

“This shouldn’t have been a day at school for me and my classmates,” said Oxford High School shooting survivor Dylan Morris.

In denial for weeks that a shooting could happen at his high school, Morris said he is reliving the emotions as another shooting happened, this time at MSU – he’s asking lawmakers to pass new laws.

“Laws including truly universal background checks, secure storage laws, and extreme risk protection orders,” said Morris.

Student survivors of the Oxford shooting and the Sandy Hook shooting attended the March and Rally for Gun Control saying these tragedies have become all too familiar.

State Rep. Julie Brixie said that since the mass shooting happened at MSU, students have been reaching out asking that she gets involved. She said she attended the event to show support. According to Brixie, the Michigan House of Representatives will be dropping a 13-bill package this week, which includes everything students are demanding and more.

She said in addition to extreme risk protection orders, universal background checks, and safe storage, the bills will also include “banning guns from certain kinds of buildings and clarifying language on gun-free zones.”

Just days after the shooting at MSU, pro-gun groups said these laws only make it difficult for law-abiding gun owners instead of getting tough on crime and punishing criminals. Republican Minority Leader of the Michigan Senate, Aric Nesbitt said “it seems like the laws currently aren’t being fully applied.”

Nesbitt told News 10, “I think if you throw up an answer before you have a solution, sometimes it isn’t the right solution and so we need to get beyond talking points and actually get to what are real solutions to solve some of these underlying issues that individuals have in our society to keep families, children, and our general public safe.”

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